Warlord involved in hundreds of murders repatriated to Colombia after serving US drug sentence
Colombian warlord Salvatore Mancuso has been returned to his native country after serving a drug trafficking sentence in the United States
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian warlord Salvatore Mancuso was repatriated Tuesday after serving a drug trafficking sentence in the United States and being denied several requests to be sent to Italy, where he also has citizenship.
Mancuso arrived in Bogota’s El Dorado Airport on a charter flight that also carried dozens of Colombians who were deported from the U.S. after illegally crossing the southern border. Mancuso was quickly taken into police custody, wearing a green helmet and a bulletproof vest.
Human rights organizations and government officials in Colombia hope that Mancuso will cooperate with the justice system and provide information about hundreds of crimes that took place when paramilitary groups fought leftist rebels in rural Colombia in the 1990s and early 2000s.
“This event marks an important step towards reconciliation and the construction of a lasting peace in Colombia,” said Fernando García, the director of Colombia’s national immigration service.
